Travis Swicegood

Travis Swicegood
has spent nearly a decade and a half in the technology industry with a focus on the web. Originally from El Paso, he has worked for startups targeting everything from electronic medical records to customer relationship management to social networks. He came to the Tribune after a year and a half of running his own consulting company that focused on helping not-for-profits and political activists use technology to expand their reach. Before taking over as the Tribune's first News Apps and Data Editor, he led the technology department as Director of Technology and spearheaded development efforts on the Tribune's Armstrong Project, a Knight Foundation-funded project to create an open source news platform.

Recent Contributions

On Monday, the Plano City Council voted to extend its nondiscrimination policy to include protections for sexual orientation and gender identity. Use our map to see what nondiscrimination policies other major Texas cities have on the books.

Our new Government Salaries Explorer reimagines our flagship salary database app. Use the explorer to review the compensation of hundreds of thousands of state and municipal employees in Texas. We will update and expand this database periodically.

In competitive races, a candidate will ideally get the best bang for his or her buck. Use our interactive to see how much each candidate for a state office spent (or did not spend) for each vote he or she received in the March 4 primary.

Texas candidates have filed their required eight-day campaign finance reports ahead of the March 4 election. Use our interactive analyzer to view contributions and expenditures in the final weeks of the primary campaigns.

The Tribune's campaign finance database has been updated to include the latest contribution and expenditure information. Use this tool to look up candidates' cash totals and to see who is funding them.

Each year, some 300,000 students begin eighth grade in a Texas public school. Use this app to track the educational milestones of every student who started eighth grade in a Texas public school between 1996 and 2001, broken down by region and county.

With the primaries just a month away, Texas candidates have filed campaign finance reports for Jan. 1-23. We have put those reports into our interactive analyzer, allowing you to view contributions, expenditures and where all of the money originated.

Our interactive breakdown of campaign finance reports from the second half of 2013 includes the totals for candidates, expenditures, loans and cash on hand at the end of the year, and offers several ways to look at the details.

Every Texas river is threatened by nearly unprecedented drought and the effects of climate change. Take a look back at our series exploring the history, health and future of some of Texas' most important and legendary rivers.

In the wake of nearly unprecedented drought, environmental advocates fear that state leaders are prioritizing thirsty cities over ecology. Our Troubled Waters series explores the history, health and future of some of the state's most important waterways.

In honor of Labor Day, we've updated more than 40 different entities in our employee payroll database, including the Texas A&M University System, the University of Houston System and Austin ISD. The updates also include two new school districts.